PMI-ACP Exam Questions

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21.

Which of the following is not a Scrum activity?

  • Change request review

  • Daily stand-up

  • Sprint planning meeting

  • Retrospective meeting

Correct answer: Change request review

A change request review is not a Scrum activity. In fact, there are no change request review processes in Agile since change is welcome at any time on the project.

Scrum activities include daily stand-ups, sprint planning meetings, and retrospective meetings.

22.

Which of the following is the best definition for user stories in Agile?

  • A narrative reflecting a small size of business functionality

  • A narrative that includes technical level work detailed enough to be actionable

  • A narrative reflecting a large size of business functionality that may span multiple iterations

  • A narrative that includes business functionality that needs to be further decomposed to go into iteration planning

Correct answer: A narrative reflecting a small size of business functionality

User stories are short narratives reflecting a small size of business functionality to be implemented in a product. A user story can be further decomposed into tasks.

A task is a short narrative that includes technical level work detailed enough to be actionable by the product team.

An epic is a large size of business functionality that may span multiple iterations to complete.

A feature includes a specific business functionality that needs to be further decomposed to go through iteration planning.

23.

A Scrum master is using Shore’s self-assessment chart to plot results. For what purpose is she plotting this information?

  • To measure multiple team performance factors obtained from retrospective input

  • To measure individual contributor performance factors obtained from retrospective input

  • To measure process improvement efforts obtained from retrospective input 

  • To measure the effectiveness of issue resolution and continuous improvement obtained from retrospective input

Correct answer: To measure multiple team performance factors obtained from retrospective input

Shore’s self-assessment chart is a radar diagram that has various performance factors such as thinking, collaborating, releasing, planning, and developing. It attempts to plot the team’s performance during an iteration along those axes. This data is obtained during the retrospective.

Shore’s self-assessment chart measures the team’s performance, not individual contributor performance, process improvement efforts, or issue resolution initiatives.

24.

Cost performance index is calculated by:

  • earned value divided by actual cost

  • earned value divided by planned value

  • earned value divided by budget at completion

  • earned value divided by cost variance

Correct answer: earned value divided by actual cost

The cost performance index (CPI) measures the financial performance of a project. It is calculated by dividing the earned value by the actual cost.

25.

Which of the following is not a stage in the retrospective process?

  • Select user stories

  • Set the stage   

  • Decide what to do

  • Gather data

Correct answer: Select user stories

Agile retrospectives or intraspectives are facilitated meetings to inspect and find areas of improvement within an iteration or project. An Agile retrospective has the following five stages:

  • Set the stage
  • Gather data
  • Generate insights
  • Decide what to do
  • Close the retrospective

Thus, selecting user stories is not a stage in the retrospective process.

26.

What is the major limitation of a simple voting approach to reach a group decision?

  • It prevents the team from identifying better alternatives.

  • It reduces complexity.

  • It makes the process extremely fast.

  •  It sparks discussion among the group.

Correct answer: It prevents the team from identifying better alternatives.

A simple voting approach is a participatory decision model in which the team is asked to vote for or against an idea. Although it helps determine the team’s preference quickly, it prevents the team from identifying better alternative since there is no opportunity for the team to delve further into other options.

A simple voting approach does reduce complexity; it makes the process extremely fast. Therefore, these are not considered significant limitations. However, this could carry issues associated with a rushed decision-making process later in the future.

Not sparking discussion among the group could be a significant limiting factor as well. The major limitation of simple voting is that it prevents the team from identifying better alternatives.

27.

An Agile team is in the process of identifying their energy level during the iteration, labeling it high or low. What is the name of this data-gathering exercise during a retrospective?

  • Color code dots

  • Team radar

  • Like to like

  • Mad, sad, glad

Correct answer: Color code dots

Activities that can help gather data during a retrospective include:

  • Color code dots: The team identifies their energy level during the iteration (high/low).
  • Team radar: The team evaluates how they have performed compared to their previous process improvement goals.
  • Like to like: The team compares reactions to events that transpired during the iteration.
  • Mad, sad, glad: The team identifies their emotional reactions throughout the iteration.

In this scenario, this team is using the color code dots facilitation technique during the gathering-data phase of the retrospective.

28.

Which of the following is most likely not a project stakeholder?

  • Competitor company

  • Vendors

  • End users

  • Development team

Correct answer: Competitor company

Stakeholders are individuals that have a vested interest in the project either directly or indirectly. It is essential to identify all relevant stakeholders early on in any project. All answer choices are stakeholders for a company producing a product. The competitor company is most likely not to be a project stakeholder.

Vendors are involved in various stages of the project; sometimes, vendors share the risk of the project's success or failure.

End users are stakeholders to the extent of being the final layer of quality reviews and product acceptance testing.

Development teams have a vested interest in the project and are actively working on it. Therefore, they are considered stakeholders.

29.

Hana is new to the Agile team, but she is ready to begin closing items from the backlog in the Kanban board. She notes that there are just a few items in the development and testing columns of the Kanban board, while most of the tasks are either done or sitting in the to-do column. She wonders why the team has not pulled some of the to-do tasks that remain there. 

What is the best explanation for what Hana is observing?

  • Limit the WIP

  • Deliver fast

  • Pull left to right

  • Develop iteratively

Correct answer: Limit the WIP

"Limit the work in progress (WIP)" is one of the five Kanban principles that advocates for restricting many items in the WIP to boost productivity. According to Little’s Law, if the WIP queue is too long, the team will take a long time to complete the work.

The question doesn't provide enough information to determine the metrics needed to determine velocity.

Pulling left to right is incorrect in this case since a task needs to run through a workflow before it is moved by the item owner on the Kanban board.

The question does not deal with the completeness of the user stories and the continuation of work.

30.

In Agile projects, how would you calculate the rate of progress as a key performance indicator for your project?

  • Calculate the average number of story points completed per iteration

  • Sum the number of story points per week

  • Divide the number of story points remaining in the backlog by the number of story points completed per iteration

  • Calculate the average number of story points not completed per iteration

Correct answer: Calculate the average number of story points completed per iteration

The rate of progress is a key performance indicator in Agile projects that can be calculated by looking at the number of story points completed per iteration. If multiple iterations have been completed, we would have to calculate the average of what has been completed to have a representative indicator over all sprints completed. 

Summing the number of story points per week does not help. We should be looking at the sum over the length of the iteration. We cannot assume that the iteration is a week long. Dividing the number of story points remaining in the backlog by the number of story points per iteration is equal to the number of iterations left for the team to complete at the current rate of progress. Calculating the number of story points not completed per iteration will not show the rate of progress. 

31.

Crystal methods use two key factors to classify projects into color names, providing a recommended methodology to follow. What are those two factors?

  • Criticality and team size

  • Time and cost

  • Color shade and criticality

  • Efficiency and team size

Correct answer: Criticality and team size

Crystal methods use two parameters to make a recommendation on what methodology to follow: criticality and team size. 

32.

A product backlog has been adjusted to include the risks identified in the project. The priorities set for the items on top of the backlog are based on value delivered to the customer, but also on risk levels identified. 

What kind of backlog is this?

  • Risk-adjusted backlog

  • Prioritized backlog

  • Sprint backlog

  • Risk backlog

Correct answer: Risk-adjusted backlog

A product backlog may start as a list of features, epics, and user stories. Once risk responses are added to the backlog and prioritized along with the rest of the elements, it becomes a risk-adjusted backlog.

A sprint backlog is a subset of the overall product backlog that includes the work items to be addressed in the upcoming sprint.

A risk backlog includes the risks identified in the project only.

33.

Based on the conflict escalation levels provided by conflict resolution expert Speed B. Leas, which of the following is an example of the language the team would use for Level 4: Crusade conflict?

  • "We don’t need them to make a decision anyway."

  • "I see your point, but I think the other approach is still better."

  • "I know you think I don’t know much about this topic, but my idea still has some merit."

  • "She always takes over the conversation during the discussion."

Correct answer: "We don’t need them to make a decision anyway."

Conflict resolution expert Speed B. Leas developed a framework to determine the seriousness of a conflict to help de-escalate the situation. We can use this framework to focus on the language the team uses. This will give us an indication of the severity of the conflict and where we are in the stages of resolving it. There are five levels in this framework:

  1. Level 1: Problem to solve: Information sharing
  2. Level 2: Disagreement: Guarded team members over resolving issues
  3. Level 3: Contest: Winning the conflict over resolving it
  4. Level 4: Crusade: Protecting the group 
  5. Level 5: World War: No room for discussion with the other party

“We don’t need them to make a decision anyway” is an example of Level 4: Crusade. At this level of conflict, the approach is more ideological and tends to polarize the parties.

“I see your point, but I think the other approach is still better” is an example of Level 1: Problem to solve, since the conversation is still kept open and fact-based.

“I know you think I don’t know much about this topic, but my idea still has some merit” is an example of Level 2: Disagreement, where we can start to see self-protection in the language.

“She always takes over the conversation during the discussion” is an example of Level 3: Contest, where the language becomes distorted because people want to win the conflict rather than resolve it.

34.

In a Scrum team, who has the best insight into what feature brings the most value to the customer? 

  • Product owner 

  • Scrum master 

  • Development team 

  • Testers 

Correct answer: Product owner 

The product owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product delivered to the customer. This role is in charge of managing the product backlog and reflecting the business value in the prioritization of the items in that backlog.

The Scrum master helps remove impediments for the team, facilitates group meetings, and guides the team on the practice of Agile. The development team is a self-organizing group of developers that executes the core of the work of each sprint. Testers have a role in XP, not in Scrum.

35.

An Agile project has low risk tolerance for a specific type of work. The organization has decided to sign a contract with a vendor organization for part of the work. 

What risk response has been undertaken by the organization?

  • Transference

  • Avoidance

  • Acceptance

  • Mitigation

Correct answer: Transference

There are four risk response strategies for an identified project risk:

  • Mitigation: Reducing the impact of the risk
  • Transference: Transferring the burden of dealing with the risk to another party
  • Avoidance: Using an alternative strategy to avoid a risk
  • Acceptance: Accepting that the risk will take place and its consequences

In this scenario, the organization is transferring the risk to an external vendor organization to deal with the risk that part of the project represents. A contractual relationship is a good example of transference in risk management.

36.

A user is finding various issues with the features of the released product. What lean waste does this represent? 

  • Defects

  • Motion

  • Extra features

  • Partially done work

Correct answer: Defects

Defects are one of the seven wastes of lean. Software issues or bugs identified by the user are product defects.

The seven lean wastes are:

  • Partially done work
  • Extra features
  • Extra processes
  • Defects
  • Motion
  • Task switching
  • Waiting

"Partially done work" is incorrect because the question does not signal partial work at any point but rather a released product.

"Extra features" is incorrect because the question does not mention any defects occurring due to additional features added.

"Motion" is incorrect because the problem statement doesn't signal a handover of any kind.

37.

What are the two values that are shared by both Scrum and XP? 

  • Respect and courage

  • Respect and openness

  • Courage and collaboration

  • Commitment and honesty

Correct answer: Respect and courage

The five fundamental values of Scrum are:

  1. Focus
  2. Courage
  3. Openness
  4. Commitment
  5. Respect

The five values of XP are:

  1. Respect
  2. Courage
  3. Feedback
  4. Communication
  5. Simplicity

Thus, respect and courage are the two values shared between Scrum and XP.

38.

According to Little’s law, which of the following is most likely not true?

  • Cycle times should be kept large to minimize waste.

  • The duration of a queue is proportional to its size.

  • Limiting WIP will get the work in that queue done faster.

  • Cycle time is directly impacted by the queue length.

Correct answer: Cycle times should be kept large to minimize waste.

Little’s law states that the duration of a queue is proportional to its size. Thus, limiting WIP will get work done faster. Cycle time is impacted by the size of the queue as observed in a cumulative flow diagram (CFD) in the “in progress” shaded stacked area graph. Cycle times and WIP should be kept low since WIP represents unrealized return on investment until the work is complete.

39.

An Agile project has been engaged in a series of risk-based spikes to try different approaches to eliminate an issue risking the continued viability of the project. The team has been unsuccessful at eliminating the issue. 

What should be done next?

  • The project should be terminated, and the saved resources should be redirected to other projects.

  • SMEs should be hired to look at the issue in more detail before a final call is made.

  • The project should be measured for business benefit before proceeding.

  • The user story involved with the issue identified should be re-estimated.

Correct answer: The project should be terminated, and the saved resources should be redirected to other projects.

Fast failure is a condition where a project is not viable any longer, potentially due to an issue that was not resolved. The saved resources should be redirected to another project.

There is no indication that SMEs need to be hired here since the team has already analyzed this issue in detail. The business benefits have already been evaluated at this point. Re-estimating the user stories would not help resolve the issue.

40.

A Scrum team is meeting for their first daily stand-up. A developer starts providing their input to the Scrum Master directly. She mentions that she will have the work item done by the end of today and will come by the Scrum Master’s desk to let her know that she is done before it goes to testing. What is an observation that can be made about this scenario?

  • Team members need to speak directly to the rest of the team in their updates, not the Scrum Master or Agile coach.

  • The daily stand-up should focus on solving specific problems rather than asking open-ended questions.

  • The daily stand-up is a great setting to solve problems that arise in the sprint.

  • Only those who have tasks can talk during a daily stand-up.

Correct answer: Team members need to speak directly to the rest of the team in their updates, not the Scrum Master or Agile coach.

A daily stand-up is a daily meeting held by the development team to review three main questions:

  1. What did you do yesterday?
  2. What will you do today?
  3. Anything blocking your progress?

The main ground rules for daily stand-ups are:

  • If you have a task, you must attend.
  • Only those who have tasks can talk.
  • Speak to the team, note the coach or Scrum Master.
  • No side conversations.
  • Create a new sticky note for each new task that is started.
  • Discuss issues after the meeting.
  • Solve problems off-line.

In this scenario, the developer should be addressing the rest of the team, not the Scrum Master, as specified in the ground rules.